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dulcemariamar1
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What is the longest cruise you have ever taken?
in Travel
My DH wants to take a cruise this summer. The one he is looking at is 12 days. IMO that seems too long. I went on a cruise for a week and that was fun but I dont know if 12 days is going to be way too long.
So has anybody here been on a cruise for longer than a week?
Re: What is the longest cruise you have ever taken?
We did a 15 night Panama Canal trip two years ago. It was incredible, but we both admit a bit too long. There were about 5 or 6 days that didn't have a port per se (one day was going through the Canal). As much as we love sea days, we also like getting off the boat and exploring new places. When we got off, we talked about how 10-12 days would have been perfect, but this was just a bit too long. However, if we had one or two more ports, we probably would have had no issues with the length of the cruise.
Since then, we have taken a 10 day cruise in the Baltics. That one only had two sea days. It was the perfect trip in every way. Sure, one or two more sea days may have been nice because it was a very port intensive cruise, but we were pleased with the length of the trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Yes, 13 day cruise in Europe.
A cruise is a completely different experience when you're going to exciting, authentic cities. I can't imagine anyone being bored with 13 days in Barcelona, Venice, Istanbul, etc. 13 days visiting the Caribbean, sure.
a week. i am typically ready to get off a moving ship by then and resume eating like a normal human
my good friend took a sabbatical (she is a teacher) and is currently on an around the world cruise for the next 4 months, visiting every continent. Following her blog is pretty amazing!
I guess the longest would be 16 nights. (Sapphire Princess in East Asia)
I've also done a few others that were also over a week:
11 nights on RCCL Voyager of the Seas (Canary Islands)
13 nights on QE2 (Norwegian Coast & Svalbard)
14 nights on Costa Romantica (Indian Ocean)
I think it really depends on where you're going. I might get bored if it was in the Caribbean, where there isn't a huge difference between ports, and even the Canary Islands trip was getting a little repetitive near the end.
However, the East Asia cruise was sooo varied that we never got bored. We started in the cold weather (December) in Beijing, and worked our way south until we were in the tropics. The climate changed, the countries changed, and the cultures were all very different. I think the climate changes really made the sea days more interesting as well, because cold weather cruising when you're inside most of the time is a lot different than the days when you can lounge by the pool, so it almost felt like being on a different ship since everyone used different areas.
The Indian Ocean cruise to Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, and R?union was on an extremely small ship (tiny by today's cruise standards), and the shipboard activities weren't great. But the trip had a lot of overnights at different ports, which really helped (we even spent the night off the ship on Seychelles because we wanted to explore farther from port). Also, the ports themselves were so exciting that we spent a lot of time looking forward to the next one.
I actually prefer longer cruises, because I really like to make the most of port days. We're up early, we see as much as we can, and frankly they can be exhausting! I love the alternation of port day, sea day, port day, sea day... because it means we get to see/do a lot on the trip, but there's a day of forced relaxation in between each. You don't get as bored on the ship if you only have one sea day at a time.
I guess if I stop and think about it, for me it's actually less about the ship than the ports. Voyager was the biggest ship I've ever been on, but there wasn't a lot of variety in the ports, and there were a lot of sea days. By the end of the trip we had tried all the activities, and we were pretty bored. In contrast, Romantica was a tiny ship with almost no amenities at all, and while I definitely didn't love the ship, I loved the cruise and rank it among my favorites, because Seychelles and Madagascar were both amazing. And if you do have multiple stretches with 2+ sea days in a row, it's better if they're warm enough to lie by the pool. This was another reason it was better to be stuck on Romantica (even with its teeny tiny crowded pools) than Voyager (with who knows how many pools). Being stuck inside on a cruise ship for two days straight is okay once in a while, but at the end of a long trip it can make you stir crazy.
11 nts on Mariner of the Seas sailing in Mediterranean
I agree that length isn't a problem as long as you have a ship with good amenities and itinerary. Europe is very tiring when you're in port too so you'll be grateful for some sea days in between. We went on a 7 day Med once with only a single sea day and I was EXHAUSTED by the time I came home.
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14 days - From Vancouver to Hawaii (5 days at sea really sucked in October), then around Hawaii for 9 days. Even though we had a huge suite, it was way too long to be on a cruise ship IMO and we love cruises.
12 days - from NJ to the Caribbean including 2 days at sea to get there and then to get back to NJ. We were on Celebrity and it was wonderful! We could lay out on the pool deck during our 2nd day at sea so we didn't feel as stuffy inside.
I have taken two 15-day cruises:
Circle Hawaii from San Diego
Canada/New England Repositioning from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale
and two 14-day cruises:
East Coast/Canada Repositioning from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal
Maritime Province/New England from Montreal to Boston
The 15-day Circle Hawaii cruise is one I would not do again. There were 9 sea days crossing the Pacific both ways, and that was too many. Hawaii was nice, but not nice enough for the time at sea. And the public rooms were booked most of the sea days, so it was hard to find a place to sit with my book.
The Maritime Province/New England cruise has been my all time favorite. Aside from the scenery, it was great for me because it was late May/early June and it was snowing at lifeboat drill and as we left Quebec, and there were icebergs in the St. John's Harbour.
I find that 11-15 days is perfect for cruises. It's long enough for a good relaxing time, but not so long that I start to miss my bed or wonder what's happening at home.